Angels: Meet the guy who caught Trout’s homer

Angels rookie Mike Trout takes a photo and expresses thanks to Zack Hample, right, for catching and returning his first home run ball. Hample made the the grab during the eighth inning of Sunday's Angels victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. <br><strong>Click through the photos to see the catch and what happened next.</strong>PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER

Zack Hample had actually planned to catch the first career home run of Angels rookie phenom Mike Trout on Sunday at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Really.

He stationed himself about 10 rows up in Section 84, the left-center field stands that were mostly empty because of the sweltering, three-digit afternoon heat. He brought his Rawlings glove from his decade-old days as a pine-riding third baseman at Guilford College in North Carolina.

He put on an Angels cap, which was more stand-out strategy than sports-allegiance statement. And he waited in the scorching sun, without water, tottering tray of nachos or cold beer or anything that would have impaired his ability to catch this Trout treasure.

Hample -- the renowned big-league ballhawk who has caught, retrieved and glove-tricked his way into possession of 5,283 balls at 48 ballparks since 1990 and authored three books on this craft, including "How to Snag Major League Baseballs" – rarely sets out to grab one ball from one player.

But for highly touted Trout, the 19-year-old New Jersey native who piqued Hample's interest long before his big-league call up 12 games ago, Hample abandoned his normal practice of getting as many balls as possible – batting practice blasts, assorted foul tips and miscellaneous home runs – for this singular pursuit.

"By the eighth inning, I was starting to worry that it wasn't going to happen," said Hample, 33, by phone while making his return trip from Baltimore to his Manhattan home. "I figured he had one last at-bat."

Hample had bought tickets to all three games in the series between Orioles and the visiting Angels. Hample, who has jerseys and hats for all 30 major league teams, wore Angels apparel to catch the attention of the visiting players who might feel like tossing a third-out ball in his direction.

He also has a sweet spot for the Angels, having worked a summer in 1995 as an unpaid intern for the Boise Hawks, which were then short season Class-A affiliate in the Halos' farm system.

"I don't have a favorite team," said a ball-centric Hample. "But I have quietly rooted for the Angels from afar, and I've been hooked on Trout."

On Friday Trout went 2-for-4 with a double, and Hample collected a foul ball struck by Oriole Luke Scott. On Saturday Trout was off and Hample snagged a foul off Nick Markakis' bat.

"I had been thinking about Trout the whole weekend, especially after Friday night," said Hample, who complimented a woman for wearing a bright red T-shirt emblazoned with "Hooked on Trout."

"That's awesome! How do you get one of those?" Hample asked her.

The woman, whispering into Hample's ear, said, "I'm his mother."

The two would eventually meet again on Sunday but after Trout flew out to right field in the second and fourth innings and flew out to left field in the sixth. Hample's hope for a home run was waning going into eighth for what would be Trout's final at-bat of the game.

He yearned to get his hands on the ball. He figured it would be his prized possession, his greatest grab, one he could value at least as much or even more than catching the final New York Mets' home run at Shea Stadium, or Barry Bonds' 724th bomb or the back-to-back commemorative balls he seized in the final week at the old Yankee Stadium. (His celebratory Cabbage Patch dances after those two catches made him a YouTube sensation and landed him next to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show.")

With one out and Alberto Callaspo and Howie Kendrick aboard, Trout came up to bat and Hample, fatigued by the heat and partly by frustration, dismissed pal Ben Weil's offer of a Coke.

"I can tell how much you really want this," said Hample, with a biting tone toward Weil, a fellow ballhawk who has 155 big-league grabs but more than 1,600 jerseys and 800 ballcaps.

"C'mon, the at-bat is still happening," said an unflustered Weil, sporting an Angels throwback "Turn Back the Clock" Troy Glaus tee. "The count is 3-1."

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Angels rookie Mike Trout takes a photo and expresses thanks to Zack Hample, right, for catching and returning his first home run ball. Hample made the the grab during the eighth inning of Sunday's Angels victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Click through the photos to see the catch and what happened next.PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample, left, takes a photo with Angels rookie Mike Trout and his family near the visitor's clubhouse at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sunday. Trout's mother is holding the baseball from Trout's first big-league home run, which Hample caught in the eighth inning of the Angels' victory. PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample, 33, of Manhattan, a renown ball-hawker who has caught or retrieved 5,283 balls at 48 big-league parks since 1990, catches the first major league home run of Angels rookie Mike Trout in the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. PHOTO BY JONA JOLLEY, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Within minutes of catching the first major league home run on Angels rookie Mike Trout on Sunday, ushers and security personnel at Camden Yards meet with Zack Hample and talk about acquiring the baseball. PHOTO BY JONA JOLLEY, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample, surrounded by security personnel from Camden Yards, agrees to return the home run ball he caught in the eighth inning to Angels rookie Mike Trout after the game. Hample requests that he give the ball to Trout in person. PHOTO BY JONA JOLLEY, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample, celebrating his prized catch of the Mike Trout's first home run as an Angel, says that this is the 5,283rd ball he has gotten a hold of at a baseball game. Fellow ballhawks Garrett Meyer and Ben Weil (backpack) are on Hample's left. Typically, he goes after any ball -- fair, four or batting practice --but on Sunday, he specifically sought a home run from Trout, the highly touted rookie who belted his first home run in his 12th game as a big-league. PHOTO BY JONA JOLLEY, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample is escorted by security down the tunnel at Camden Yards after Sunday's game to return the home run ball to Angels rookie Mike Trout. PHOTO BY JONA JOLLEY, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Fans applaud Zack Hample as security guides him from the stands Sunday at Camden Yards in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hample made the grab on Angels rookie Mike Trout's first home run and he shows off the ball. PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample stands behind Mike Trout's parents, Jeff and Debbie, in the main entrance to the Camden Yards as they were getting passes from security to go downstairs to see him outside the visitors clubhouse after the game. PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Zack Hample, renown ballhawker, stands in front of the visitors clubhouse at Camden Yards to wait for Angels rookie Mike Trout. Hample caught Trout's first big-league home run in the stands in left center field during the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER
Angels rookie Mike Trout emerges from the visitors clubhouse after Sunday's game to give Zack Hample an autographed baseball in return for the home run ball that Hample caught in the eighth inning. It was Trout's first MLB career home run. PHOTO BY BEN WEIL, TEXT BY MARCIA C. SMITH/THE REGISTER

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